Mini Mobile Portfolio Review (MMPR) – Alon Goldsmith

I am delighted to publish in full our latest Mini Mobile Portfolio Review (MMPR), this time for Alon Goldsmith. As we mentioned in our original post for this new section, see here, we are committed and most of all deeply passionate about mobile photography and mobile art and we have been a leading force in this area for many years.

Our new MMPR section is a fully confidential service, unless the artist agrees for us to publish the review, as in this case with Alon. Miranda Gavin is our editor for this section, she is a writer, blogger, editor, educator and photographer. She regularly reviews professional portfolios – Photomonth (2009-12), Renaissance Photography Prize (2013-2014) and Brighton Photo Fringe (2014) as well as visits student degree shows – University of Derby, (2011-14); University of the Creative Arts, Farnham, 2013-14; University of Norwich, 2011. Miranda has a BA (Hons) in Photography (University of Westminster) and a Master of Research from London Consortium (Birbeck) in Humanities and Cultural Studies (2008).

We are offering MMPR’s for free as we gauge interest, take up and time. You will see from the one below that each is limited to approximately 500 words. If you would like a more in-depth Portfolio Review, we can do this but will have to make a charge. We welcome your feedback!

The photos submitted cover a variety of photographic genres that includes street photography, sports/action photography and architectural shots. All the images are square format. Six are black and white and the rest are colour, some with very bold saturated colour. You take photos of people and of places and it seems that you are comfortable shooting both, however, with people, rather than shooting a classic portrait, the people/individuals are not foregrounded but are another element in the frame, sometimes shown in shadow (Bedroom Story; Forward Facing; Out To Lunch).

Looking at your images, it is immediately evident that you have a good eye for the formal aspects of composition; you pay particular attention to shape and space and in some of the images you use the repetition of these elements to create graphic shots. Looking at the first four photos in the sequence it is clear that you are sensitive to how light falls on the elements in the frame and there is a recurring motif of repeated lines, whether as stripes or the repetition of objects. You also use the diagonal, whether running from top-right to bottom-left or from top-left to bottom-right (In The Zig; Out To Lunch; Phone Home; Super Gas; The White Sneaker). Even in the skateboard action shadow photo (Tilt) the subject’s arms create a further diagonal.

In some images you also experiment with colour, using the horizontal plane and an overcast sky that makes the blue and yellow umbrellas ‘pop’ out more (Bottoms Up). In the vertical arrangement you use white and a single bold primary colour (Yin Yang). It is interesting to see that, once again, there is a diagonal element in the position of the broom.

The sequencing of your images is quite accomplished; there is a sense of you as a photographer and a visual signature (viz some of the aspects I mentioned before). However, there are a few images that seem out of place. These include ‘Ralph and Marilyn’, which looks constructed, relying on post-production, as if Ralph has been imported from another image. Again, the orange umbrella really leaps out against the monochrome background, through the use of monotone and shades of grey with one area of bright colour. ‘Blue Plate Special’ uses stripes again, but in an item of clothing, while ‘Building the Perfect Beast’ uses ideas of abstraction and focuses on a close up detail, in this case the way the horse’s back becomes an element in the landscape. For me, the strongest works are those in which you hone in on the idea of repetition and use this as a motif in your work, as with ‘In the Waiting Line’ and ‘In the Zig’.

Ways Forward (associations and resonances include):

Stephen Shore colour photography. See his MOMA show Stephen Shore: American Surfaces, a solo exhibition by the acclaimed American photographer of more than 300 photographs taken between 1972 and 1973. (see here).

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